Children of War: Board Minds Think Alike
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Children of War: Board Minds Think Alike Workaholics Anonymous Flashing back to Teams ARES, RWBY and MKBD in the library. Soft growling. Delilah and Mose, annoyed and disturbed. More growling. Kiarra, sheepish and slightly uncomfortable. Continued growling. "Okay, I'm gonna bite." Anthony said gruffly, turning around in a nearby seat. His eyes were looking at a growling Bonnie. Bonnie's eyes were directed at Pyrrha. Pyrrha was in a seat at another table with her own team. But although Anthony's eyes were on Bonnie, his voice was aimed at Mose. "What the hell is your midget doing?" "Good question." Mose muttered, looking at Delilah. "Delilah, can you do something to shut her up? That's getting on my nerves." "You got it, pimp." Delilah deadpanned, ignoring the slight groan from her team leader. One of her hands pulled off the book she was reading to lightly slap the growling Bonnie in the face, causing her to emit a yelp that sounded humorously dog-like. But it seemed to have worked; Bonnie traded the growling for covering her nose with both hands. Her assailant frowned, giving her a slightly stern look. "Bonnie, knock it off. You're sounding like a rabid chihuahua." She chided. "What's gotten into you, huh?" After rubbing her nose, Bonnie resumed giving what she assumed to be a discreet glare at Pyrrha. Her fists balled up in front of her. "I can't help it..." She muttered. "It's just that... I don't like her. That Pyrrha Nikos girl. She's too... off." "Look who's calling the kettle black." Seth muttered under his breath, earning a slap to his arm by Elisha. "Ow!" "Bonnie." Kiarra deadpanned, cocking an incredulous eyebrow. "We've been over this. She's not a machine, and she's not a Grimm." "I know that!" Bonnie answered, waving a dismissive hand. "It's not that what's getting me. It's her composure." Her eyes squinted in their leer. "She's so calm... so confident... so mature. She acts like she's the perfect little girl. But no one's that mentally impervious. She has a weakness, and by Dust, I am going to find it. I may not be able to bring in a warhead without the headmaster noticing, but I've got other ways to make the pig squeal." She turned her leer towards the rest of her team. "And I know exactly how a pig squeals! I owned one before!" Kiarra tilted her head to the side. "Wait a minute, you owned a pig?" She asked, stopping Bonnie's tirade and earning a surprised eye. "That actually sounds pretty sweet." Bonnie's eyes sparkled, her hostility towards Pyrrha completely forgotten. "Oh, you would've loved Nibble, then!" She exclaimed, beaming at Kiarra. "She's just passing up one year old, and she is the sweetest thing in the entire world! To me, at least." Her smile faded for a thoughtful look. "I wonder if we're allowed to bring animals into the school. More importantly," She looked over to Pyrrha again, raising her voice to a volume of normal conversation. "Pyrrha, do you happen to like pigs?" Mose looked at her disbelief, raising up one of his hands in an incredulous shrug. "Let her have this, Mose." Delilah grunted. "I'd rather have her talk about pigs than pointing a warhead at another person just to shake them up a little." Pyrrha had simply been minding her business with a book. Most of Team JNPR had chosen to study while Team RWBY, not too far away, procastinated with a infectiously enjoyable table-top game. She stolen a few glances at their progress, noticing how Yang was taking charge of the 'war' going on while Ruby was the only one competing with Weiss stumbling around with the rules with Blake looking as if she was distracted. Sighing as she looked back at her text book, she heard the easily excitable classmate, Bonnie ask her a question. "Depends on the condition," Pyrrha answered, her eyes still trained on the words in front of her. "Sausage with eggs are usually an occasional but delicious breakfast I enjoy dining upon. Then again, pork with rice and a little bit of seasoning with persimmenon is delectable. But I could eat bacon everyday if it wasn't unhealthy for m-" She was interrupted when Jaune coughed, making her rise to look up when he gave her a look of alarm. Blinking, she cocked her head to the side while he hoarsely whispered, "She asked if you LIKED pigs, not how you liked EATING them." "Oh!" Pyrrha turned, immediately apologetic as she smiled sheepishly at Bonnie. "I'm sorry! I really do think pigs are cute, but I like pigglets the best. So cuddly and noisy, but if I could, I'd hug them every time I see them." "Nice recovery," Nora whispered with Ren nodding with smiling approval. Judging from the line of looks on Bonnie's face, it appeared she did not share Ren's opinion. The first face was shock when she registered Pyrrha's early words about it. It shifted to horror, accompanied by a not-too-subtle twitch of an eye. When all was said and done, she adopted a polite smile and a seemingly mirthful gaze. But considering her expressions beforehand, it was clear that mirth wasn't a part of her feelings. Still, she did her best to mask it. "Oh!" She chirped. "Okay, then. That was just a curious question, by the way. Don't mind it too much." Her teammates were not convinced - especially with the quiet mutter of "Don't go to sleep tonight" as she turned back to the notes she was writing in. "...you guys might wanna have sentries or something tonight." Delilah muttered, cocking a slight eyebrow at team JNPR. "Not wanting to scare you or anything." "Not wanting to scare?" Kiarra asked her, regarding her with slight incredulity. "Dellie, when you're warning someone to act like a guard dog for a possible threat, it's gonna scare 'em." She paused for a minute, only to cut Delilah off in the middle of a potential retort. "And just saying that afterwards? They're gonna wonder what they could be scared about, which in turn'll instill a fear of the unknown--" "Oh, for Dust's sake!" Delilah groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. "Are you really giving me this technical crap right now? I'm the mechanic in this group here! I'm the one who should be laying it down on you!" Kiarra smirked. "Well," She said coyly. "You are doing a Dust-awful job right now. Any more, and you just might get fired." "Go suck on a grenade." Delilah fired back, folding her arms and frowning lopsidedly. Mose decided to add his own piece of words. He turned his head to give team JNPR a stoic yet nonchalant look. "You really have nothing to worry about." He said. "Bonnie's got the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to what she considers the "pettier" things of life. Even if she does go through with anything, we'll keep her on a leash." With both JNPR and MKBD focused on each other, Anthony took that as a cue to turn back to his own table. He gave a heavy sigh, leaning forward with both of his arms on the table. He shook his head as he looked down at the notebook he was writing in. Its contents were a mix of notes from his classes and his "detective analysis" of the ones that had accompanied Roman and the White Fang at the docks. Unfortunately, most of the latter was speculation at best. Outside the first names of the three males, he couldn't find anything on them. Compared to the more infamous Roman Torchwick, they were unknown anomalies on the grid. One of his pet peeves just happened to be enemies that could cover their tracks up too well. His irritation didn't escape the notice of his teammates. Elisha was the first to speak up about it. He gave Anthony a curious yet concerned look. "Anthony?" He asked, causing his leader to look over at him. "I don't mean to judge. But you don't look so well. Are you ill?" "No." Anthony grunted, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "But I'm tired as hell. I've been trying to figure out who those four bodyguards are. The ones who were with Roman and his goons back at the docks. But so far, I've got nothing on them. It's like they just came out of nowhere. There's nothing on the archives, nothing in any news article outside of the dock incident..." He placed his hands to his face, letting out an audible exhale of frustration. "Fuck, I hate it when new things just suddenly pop up like this." It was noted that the silent Rohan seemed to shrink a little in his chair, averting his gaze from his teammates. But thankfully, their attention was on each other. "You really need to relax, Anthony." Seth muttered, cocking an eyebrow. "It's not a big deal." "It may not be a big deal right now," Anthony grumbled, dropping his hands and opening his eyes to give a leer at Seth. "But it could be in the future. Back then, we very nearly got our asses kicked in by that shotgun chick." His tone became a bit sharp when he saw Seth about to protest. "We did. She was fighting the two of us off like it was nothing - and she was using only a standard-issue shotgun, no Semblance. The next time we happen to meet up with her, or at least someone else like that, we'll need to be ready for it." Seth huffed, rolling his eyes. "I still think you're making a big deal out of it." "Unbelievably," Elisha commented, giving a sage nod. "I agree with Seth." "Excuse you?" Anthony asked skeptically. "As much as I admire your dedication to this pursuit," Elisha explained, looking at Anthony seriously. "Putting too much concentration into it is going to ruin you. You already seem haggard enough as it is. It's one thing to push yourself, but no matter how strong your spirit, your body can only take so much." His gaze diverted from Anthony to the far-off Blake. "A perfect example would be Blake. Go on and take a look at her for a moment." Anthony smirked, giving a half-shrug. "Are you sure? 'Cause I'm pretty sure Sunny's gonna look at me funny if she catches me ogling other women." "I'm pretty sure she swings both ways, man." Seth said casually, grinning widely. "I mean, have you seen her when she's around Blake? All touchy-touchy and flirty-flirty. I wouldn't be surprised if they were banging behind your back." "Just look over there, Anthony." Elisha deadpanned, his hand raising up towards Seth before he could make any more comments. "I'm trying to show you an example. Humor me for once." After regarding Elisha with a skeptical raise of the brow, Anthony decided to do just that. He turned his head around, his eyes falling on the cat Faunus with a detached curiosity. Blake's mind has been astrewn with restless turmoil. Every day that she sat in class, going through the same routine, Roman and his pack of thugs were joining forces with the White Fang for nothing short of ill will. She hadn't even paid attention to the "battle" ongoing with Yang, Weiss and Ruby. She busied herself with a book, holding a sketch of her departed friend and mentor while also scribbling odds and ends involving the criminal gang. Who were they? What was Torchwick scheming? Who else was going to die because of her? "Yello? Anyone home?" Yang finally asked as their game was wrapping up. Silence was met with the ignorance of her cry. "Helloooooo?" The blonde furrowed her brows, waving a hand over, followed by a few finger snaps. By the time Blake looked up Yang almost recoiled at the sight of bags under her eyes. How long has she deprived herself of sleep? She'd wonder about that later, as she cocked her head with curiosity. "You...okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine," She answered too quickly as she closed her book. "Right, and I'm not a virgin-" "YANG?!" "Shhh!" Ruby shushed Weiss as the heiress gawked and blushed, till she realized with Yang's wry smile and a roll of her eyes that she merely jested. "Whenever someone isn't fine, they say they're fine. No one says they're fine," Yang pressed with her left arm resting on the table and her upper body leaning forward, eyes furrowed at her. "What? Is this about Roman again?" For awhile, Blake just looked down, her bangs obscuring her tired eyes. It wasn't until visible shaking was seen did all three girls looked concern as her words came out shaking, "How...can you all just sit here...and not even CARE?! We saw what those monsters and that unforgivable thief are advocating! They're taking lives and fortunes! And for what?! We don't even know and we're just going to act like nothing happened?!" "Don't be stupid, Blake," Weiss intervened with her own brand of annoyance, brushing her hair aside as she stared her raven haired Faunus teammate down. "We all care. We cannot forget that night. But we can't just act on our own. This is out of our depth; we're students for a reason. We're not Huntresses yet-" "Well maybe you can sit back and just let them destroy Vale, but I won't!" Blake cried out, standing up from her desk and pushing away from it. "Blake! Blaaaaake!" Ruby called out, only stopped by Yang who gripped her little sister's shoulder. "Give her some time. I'll go find her if she doesn't come back in a few hours," She consoled her, with her sibling nodding with understanding and sitting down with a slump. In turn she sighed as she scratched her curly head, a stride aimed to take her to an empty seat next to Anthony. Pulling up, she groaned as she planted her face into crossed arms. "If someone's got painkiller, I won't object to taking some now, thank you." "Give me a coffee with ten sugars and you've got yourself a deal." Anthony groaned back. But although he was suffering from his own brand of sleep deprivation, he wasn't too agitated to comfort the one who needed it. His left arm placed itself around her shoulders, and his head leaned in gently against her own. The curtain of blonde hair was strangely comfortable - but of course, that could've been his exhaustion talking. Seth scoffed, giving the downed Yang a look of incredulity. "You're kidding. You can actually feel pain? Because every fight I've seen you in says otherwise." Elisha looked at Seth with annoyance. "Seth, please. This is serious." "I'm serious, too!" Seth shot back. "She might as well be Pyrrha's prodigy when it comes to being "the invincible girl"." He emphasized the quoted words with his fingers. "Getting hit with tonfa and thrown around? Nah. Getting smacked around with a steel baseball bat? Nope. Getting shot with incendiary rounds? Hell no." He raised a finger to point at Yang, coming well into a rant. "This might as well be the ultimate juggernaut of our little group right here. Forget teams or an army. If we had something big to deal with, just send Yang! She'd probably demolish everything and everyone in the hour. Yet, here she is, complaining that she feels pain that she shouldn't be feeling at all? What kind of bullsh..." Rohan, meanwhile, had tuned Seth's rambling out in favor for concern of Yang's condition. Her movements and her expression of agony caught his attention, and he was giving a worried stare in her direction. Although she was in need of guidance, they were unable to do anything to help her. None of them carried painkillers on them, nor did they have any other medicines on hand to deal with such things. But there had to be a way. Otherwise, Yang would be forced to suffer for who knew long. He closed his eyes and thought hard, trying to find a solution. Then, his eyes opened back up in realization, an idea coming to his head. "...might as well stab myself in the face with a dinner fork and hope I don't--" Seth was cut off when he saw Rohan get up from his chair, moving to one closer to Yang. He cocked an eyebrow in confusion, matching Elisha's own expression of confusion. "Rohan, what are you--" "Sssh!" Rohan promptly put a finger to his lips and shushed Seth, giving him a slight glare before turning to Yang. His expression lightened, and he softly cleared his throat. His hands raised up in preparation for conduction. He took in a breath, drawing the attention of even a few of the other library dwellers. Then, he began to sing. It was soft, as he took caution not to completely disturb anyone else. It was smooth, carrying no rasp and little shake. The tone of his voice made it almost seem like he was singing a lullaby - something that hit Anthony harder than it probably would've hit Yang. With the position he was in, he was fighting the urge to drop asleep then and there. It stood out on its own without the need for any background sounds, enough to catch the amazed eye of his teammates. It also caught a few comments from an unintentional audience. "He's having a sing!" Bonnie whispered. "Heh..." Kiarra chuckled. "It's almost like we're in the presence of a bard." "Makes you wonder if he's gonna start a musical." Delilah piped in. "If other people start breaking out into song along with him, I'm getting up from this table and marching out of this school." Mose deadpanned. Weiss turned with Ruby, as they were cleaning up the table of their game, to the sound of Rohan's voice. Neither of them thought he possessed the capability of holding a long conversation, let along sing. But there he was, letting out a tune from his mouth so entrancing that they couldn't help but be entranced by it. Everyone in the library halted to listen if not draw closer to the source of the sound. Not a raucous bunch of noise, but a pleasing brush in the air for all to hear. "That song," Pyrrha turned her head towards the table which held Team ARES, eyes wide with recollection and sudden nostalgia. "I've...heard this before." "Really?" Jaune asked dubiously, keeping his voice quiet while the meekest member of Ares kept his song going. "My mother sung it to me when I was a child," She smiled sadly, eyes glittering as she basked in the beauty of the melody. "It still sounds so wonderful to hear, even now..." "Makes you wonder who sang it to him," Ren commented while Nora just gleefully grinned and bobbed her head to the rythym. Yang, hearing it closest and firsthand, could only look up in awe at Rohan. The song was clear in its intent and she couldn't help but start to sing along. The words were easy to remember and she couldn't help but join in chorus. At that moment soon even Ruby began singing along with her sister, joined by the fantastic vocalist that the heiress was. Hearing this Jaune stood up and began to sing in a low tone with Ren, Nora and Pyrrha all joining in. It wouldn't be long until the entire library echoed the hallowed tune of a promise for a better tomorrow and a brighter future beyond the darkness. Needless to say, Rohan was shocked. It wasn't the most orthodox solution a person would've had. But he had been aiming to simply make Yang feel better. Judging from the way she was acting, it was clear that he had succeeded. What he hadn't expected was for the entire library to join in on his impromptu performance. It made him stop singing, his voice slowly fading into silence as he looked at her. His lips parted in preparation to speak to her. But his colleagues interrupted him. "Well, well!" Elisha commented, regarding the library's populace with amazement. A small and pleased smile fell on his face, and he looked over at Rohan with an almost child-like admiration. "You've started quite the ruckus, Rohan. Color me impressed!" "Where did you learn to sing?" Seth asked, folding his arms across his chest and cocking an eyebrow. Although sounding skeptic at first, his tone gained a more respectful edge. A grin crossed his face. "I mean, seriously. Have you been sneaking out and practicing while we're all asleep?" "I..." Rohan looked away, twiddling his fingers together. His face was tinted red and written with embarrassment. "I was taught as a child. It has been a while since I've done it." "What, was that supposed to be you out of your prime?" Anthony asked, chuckling. His arm had retreated from Yang's shoulder and was now resting against the surface of the shared desk. The elbow of his other arm was propped against the table, its hand supporting his head by its cheek. "Because if you can cause this many people to become a choir, I'd hate to see what you could've done back then." "Well--" Rohan was cut off once more when he heard the sound of a chair being pushed under the desk. He and his teammates turned to see a disgruntled Mose as he moved around his own table and to the exit. Judging by the expressions on his teammates' faces, it was an unexpected action, even for them. "Oh my Dust, he's actually doing it." Delilah spoke in awe. "Mose?" Kiarra asked, bearing a disbelieving grin and chuckling. No response. Mose kept walking. "Mose, come on." Still no response. "Mose, don't leave--" But it was too late. Mose had disappeared around the corner and out of sight - presumably to follow up on his statement. "Oh, my stars--!" Kiarra abruptly tilted her head down, placing a hand against her face. Her shoulder shook with mirth, and she was gradually falling into uncontrollable laughter. She briefly raised her head up to reveal tears falling down her shut eyes and a rather giddy grin. "I c-can't believe he actually walked out! Is he gonna-- the school--?!" She lowered her head back down, allowing the comprehensibility of her words to fall away in exchange for unrestrained laughter. Bonnie scoffed. "He just doesn't know good music when he hears it." After regarding the doorway for a moment more, Anthony looked over to Yang. He placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey, uh..." He said, a slightly apologetic smile on her face. "Hate to interrupt your contribution to the choir, but you look like you're better. Mind telling us what's going on with Kitten?" The Scarred Past As the clamor had died down with the lead singer ceasing, the library staff finally enforced the return to solemn quiet. It took a few minutes, but those who had wandered in or who just stopped what they were doing returned to their original duties. Even Team JNPR returned to studying much to Nora's chagrin, but stillness returned to the place of learning. "Yeah," Yang began, sighing as she leaned against his shoulder with her head. Furrowing her brow she began to explain in better detail. "I think what happened at the docks with Blake has her really egged on. She really wants to bring Roman down, especially since the White Fang are in cahoots with him. She may be trying to blame him for their string of violent acts but maybe she's also blaming herself those police officers were killed. I dunno what to do. "What do you think I should do?" She asked with with a turn of her head. Elisha had been right to point out to Anthony how similar his situation was to Blake's. This wasn't the first time that he had worked himself up. It was a common thing to obsess, at least to a certain extent, over a new and potentially dangerous target. Of course, he had never worked himself up into a frenzy over it. He knew his limits, and would attempt to slow himself down as soon as exhaustion hit him really hard. Blake, however, seemed to be pushing herself past that point. Although he personally appreciated that she shared his enthusiasm, he could safely assume that she was pushing herself a little too hard. Clearly, she needed someone to help her realize that. He closed his weary eyes briefly and let out a sigh before directing his gaze on Yang. "Well," He offered, giving a small grin of encouragement. "If I had to give any advice, it's just to talk to her. Clearly, the idea of her working herself to death hasn't come through and she needs someone to pound it into her head." "Practice what you preach, Anthony." Elisha deadpanned, wiping the smile off Anthony's face. "Hey, I know my limits, all right?" Anthony defended himself, placing his free hand against his chest for emphasis. "I've been where she is a bunch of times. I follow my own advice fine." "What do you mean, "a bunch of times?" Seth asked, cocking an eyebrow. Rohan tilted his head to the side in equal curiosity. "It's--" Anthony stopped himself, his eyes briefly widening. His free hand made a dismissive gesture. "It's nothing, all right? The point being--" "Wait a minute, no!" Seth abruptly cut him off, sporting a slight look of irritation. He returned Anthony's glare with one of his own, pointing an accusing finger. "I'm getting sick of this. It's already enough on my plate you knew about Blake before any of us did. But recently, you've been slipping up and spewing this little vague stuff around. I think it's high time that you spilled the beans, buddy!" Anthony cocked an eyebrow and scowled. "Yeah, how about no--" "Hey, Ruby! Weiss!" Seth, much to the surprise of his teammates, decided to direct his vocal cords to the other members of team RWBY. The irritation was gone, replaced by a too-cheery grin. "Come on over here a minute! Anthony says he's got something to tell us. Says he's been wanting to get it off his chest for a good while now!" "You--!" Anthony quickly got over his own shock and horror, giving a smug-looking Seth a miffed glare as he hissed out the words. "You little shit!" "Don't be shy, Anthony." Seth shrugged, giving a teasing wink. "You've been hyping yourself up all this time, after all. Can't quit now when you're just two steps short of the goal line." "I-I do not--!" "And now you're in denial. Regressing pretty hard there, aren't you?" Elisha was trying his best to hold in his laughter. But with Anthony looking like he really wanted to leap over the table and strangle the young cowboy to death, it was incredibly hard to do so. Eventually, he had to settle for turning his head away. "Oh! This is gonne be awesome!" Ruby let out a giddy squeal as she practically sped faster than the blink of an eye to sit on an empty seat and smiled wide to listen in on the tale. Even Team JNPR had secretly turned their gaze from studying to direct their attention to them. Weiss herself waltzed with dignity till she sat next to Ruby with her own head tilt at the most likely spectacle about to perform before them. So many secrets surrounded the leader of ARES. Where did he come from? How did he acquire so much military precision and instinct? The matter of what the one man army soldier was capable of and how he obtained these skills was always a topic of intrigue and fascination for those who knew even an iota of truth to his stories. But now, he was going to speak about it, everyone turned their attention towards him. "I'd like to know too," Yang urged, gripping his hand as she smiled almost pleadingly at him rather than fasciviously like she ordinarily would. Her amethyst eyes bore into is with a yearning to know something that'd help her with the problem with Blake, not to mention just to know more about someone she had an attraction to. Like metal to a magnet, she was drawn towards him and she wanted to know just WHY that was. "Oh, come the fuck on..." All of this sudden attention caused Anthony to become perturbed. But it was the soft and warm grip of Yang's hand on his own that kept him from backing off completely. He turned his head to her, expression incredulous. But the surprise gave way to wavering reluctance when he saw that look on her face. It unnerved him, and at the same time, it wasn't an expression he could say "no" too. That overrode the earlier reason of not being able to get away due to Seth's interference. He turned away from her, closed his eyes and gave a brief exhale. "Well. Guess I might as well get comfortable. Everyone's looking at me." "You all are such thirsty little shits." He muttered, although there was a lack of hostility behind his words. He opened his eyes back up, a slightly disgruntled and weary gaze leveled at his audience. He raised his hand up in placation. "All right, all right. I'll tell you a little story." By this time, Elisha had ceased his laughter and was now leaning in eagerly along with Seth. Rohan did the same, albeit with less enthusiasm (at least, on the outside) and more curiosity. Unbeknownst to them, team MKBD had also paused in their work to listen in. "Where do you want me to start?" Anthony asked, cocking an eyebrow at Seth. Seth grinned. "Well, I was gonna ask about how you knew Blake, but," He pointed at the synthetic limb. "How's about you tell us how you got that arm, huh?" Anthony gave the arm a curious gaze, then put on a dry grin. "Well, good luck to you, then. Those stories just happen to go hand-in-hand." He said, redirecting his eyes to the audience. "You see, before I was a student of Beacon, I was a mercenary. Spent most of my years in that career running with the Dust Devils, and--" "Bullshit." Seth interrupted, regarding Anthony with a look of disbelief. "There's no way." Anthony frowned. "And why's that?" "The Dust Devils are high-class." Seth explained, giving a shrug and looking over to everyone else as if someone could validate his explanation. "Most of them are experienced soldiers from various forms of military. They don't just pick up some random schmuck off the street and enlist them!" Anthony raised both of his eyebrows, slowly leaning against the table and leering at Seth. "And what makes you think I fall under the category of "random schmuck"? What makes you think I wasn't one of those "experienced soldiers"?" Seth reeled back a little, skeptical. "Well, you're like, what, 19? That's usually when you start enlisting in an army." The wry grin returned to Anthony's face. "Well, would you believe me if I said I was there from the ground up?" Seth found himself staring at his leader in astonishment, his skepticism fading away. Had it come from anyone else, he would've been quick to dismiss it. But the look in Anthony's eye told him there wasn't a joke or a lie in his words. Anthony leaned back, using his mechanical hand to emphasize his words. "Before I was a mercenary," His eyes flickered briefly to Yang, remembering how vague he had been during their chat in the bar. "I was a soldier. Born and raised as one, to be exact. Fighting, keeping cool even when things get heated, hardening yourself so that you'd be able to commit to an objective no matter what... that's where I got the skills to impress the Dust Devils." "You were a child soldier." Rohan said bluntly. Strangely enough, he wore a slightly guarded expression and regarded Anthony with something akin to wariness. After leaning his head back a little in surprise, Anthony rolled his eyes and made a dismissive gesture with his metallic hand. "Well, I was trying to keep the mood high, Rohan. But if that's the way you want to put it, then yeah. I was a child soldier." "What made you break away from that?" Elisha inquired. "I mean, I'm not trying to demean your choices. But soldiers are recognized as the bulk of protection against the Grimm and other heavy threats against human civilization. It is a job meant for the hardy, but a good job nonetheless." "It was just too restrictive for me." Anthony said simply. "Felt like I was doing chores and whatever. Sure, the Dust Devils had their own set of rules to follow, but they were much more loose. The fact that they focused primarily on missions of direct engagement helped out with that a lot. One of those missions," He shifted his eyes to eyes, smirking a little as he pointed over to her. "Was handed out by the dad of our resident rich girl over there." For awhile, Ruby was leaning in just as intensely, rapt for details about this tough guy's backstory. When the idea he was part of mercenaries made her almost as doubtful of the incident as Seth was. However hearing the term 'child soldier' tossed around made her realize the derogatory term she heard other students refer to themselves by learning at Beacon. She knew she was young by most of the student body's standards but they weren't that much older than she was. But to have been a soldier at an even younger age? She could hardly imagine. When Weiss was mentioned, Yang and Ruby turned to look at her at once with gawking to knowing expressions. "What?! You think I had a handling in Anthony's past?!" "You do have a company with questionable business practices." "Not to mention he may be grouchy from what you told of your difficult childhood." "Well I didn't hear ANYTHING about father hiring Dust Devils," Weiss replied with an indignant turn of the head, brushing a hand through her side-tail of silver hair. Returning her gaze back at the scarred veteran of war, she sombered her tone before explaining. "All I ever know is that because of the constant conflicts with the White Fang and other radical groups, Faunus or not, it's more than likely dad's had a dealing with mercenaries. We couldn't always rely on Atlas to protect us, so outside help isn't that far of a stretch. I just never heard of him hiring people as young as you, no offense." "That could explain why I've seen you give snow queen the dirty eye a few times," Yang smirked while the heiress furrowed her brows at her. But her smile toned down as she bobbed her head to the side and stroked her curls with added intrigue. "That doesn't explain what got you involved with Blake, though. Was she still part of the White Fang or was this after?" "She was still in there." Anthony answered, resting both of his arms on the table. "She and several other White Fang were opponents on that assignment - to guard an S.D.C. train sporting some really valuable cargo. The train was right in the middle of its route when it was attacked by several of their gunships. The tech supplied on the trip barely helped. They were pushing us back, forcing most of the fighting into the cars. After taking out so many on my own, I find a clear train car to take a breather in. Sure enough, Blake comes in the same car after cutting a swap through several of my guys." "And then you kissed!" Bonnie exclaimed from her team's table. "Right?" "Yang, your man's been two-timin'!" Delilah added. "Girls, please." Kiarra deadpanned. Anthony's eye twitched a little. But he chose to ignore the commentary. "Naturally, we have ourselves an all-out brawl. After a while of blade banging, kicking and punching, I get the upper hand on her. But, you see," He gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle, looking away from Yang momentarily. "Back then, I was a little too "happy" when it came to assignments like that, a little too high-strung. I disarm her, I have her pinned, and instead of using that time to finish her off, I start gloating to her. While I'm going on and on, I end up loosening my grip on her just enough. She head-butts me in the face--" Seth gave an obnoxious giggle, causing Anthony's eyes to deliver a brief glare in his direction. "--and she gets her weapon back. In the process, I lose my weapon. Because I was such a stupid fuck back then, I try charging her bare-handed. She takes her blade, sheathe and all, and--" Cutting the dialogue, Anthony raised his free hand up. The sides of his fingers lined up with one another, positioning in a "karate chop" stance. He pointed the fingertips at the underside of his metallic arm before swiping across the socket in a cut-throat motion, making a disturbingly real sound effect of flesh being cut as he did so. Then, he lightly thrust against the center of his chest with those finger-tips while making the same sound. Needless to say, the resulting made his teammates cringe. "Wait a minute, seriously?" Seth asked, one of his eyes squinting. "She's the one that cut off your arm?" "And that wasn't just any blade she used, either." Elisha muttered, looking morbidly intrigued. "That was comparable to a slab of metal. And she ran you through with it. Just how exactly did you survive?" Anthony gave a sardonic smile. "What can I say? I'm such a lucky guy, and the stars must've been in a good mood." He answered sarcastically. "To be honest, I did have my Semblance active, so my guess was that my adrenaline was keeping my body awake. So thanks to that, I was able to keep breathing. What happened next..." He trailed off, the smile fading away from his face. He put a fist to his mouth, suddenly finding interest in the table. The light faded from his eyes, and the next words were spoken in a cold and almost monotone voice. "Almost made me wish I didn't." "What happened?" Elisha asked quietly. Anthony's other hand met the synthetic one, and the two folded in front of his mouth. "Not long after I get felled, more White Fang arrive on scene. Not long after that, my guys show up. It looks like there's gonna be a big brawl, with my bleeding carcass about to get caught in the middle. Then," He slowly dropped his arms to his table. One of his hands pointed a finger upwards. "Papa Schnee's voice comes up through some announcement system in the train. By his words, and as it later turned out, the entire cargo train was a trap, a bid to kill off some really important members of the White Fang. Me and my fellow mercs were just a distraction, expendable and disposable. The way he delivered the message to us... the fact that I was, at that point, helpless to do anything about it... it really shook us all up." He lowered his head, his bangs overshadowing his eyes. His hands refolded themselves at level with his mouth. "Then, the train derailed. Everyone was scrambling to get away, get off and get outta there. The Dust Devils tried to do the same, but I was too messed up to help myself. So, they stayed with me. They braced themselves, tried their best to help me out. When that train crashed, only a handful of us survived. Even that much didn't last long in our trek through Grimm-infested forests. By the time we made it to a village willing to help us out, there was just me and one other person." A brief silence. "...wow." Seth muttered. "No wonder you're so hostile." "Only to you," Anthony deadpanned, squinting at Seth. "Fuckin' midget." For Ruby, it was probably one of the most graphic tales she ever heard. A story about military for a child made her almost disbelieve it. Despite the sadness she felt about the past, it wasn't entirely bad thanks to her Uncle Qrow and her dad looking out for her with Yang. But Anthony seemed to never have a pause of normalcy. Even as a mercenary he was constantly at odds and even betrayed to be left for dead. It was a sobering thought for her to consider, but not nearly as eye popping for what Weiss had to imagine. "I knew he was...cold. Anyone would tell you that by meeting him, but...this?" She shook her head with amazement and horror filled in her crystal blue eyes. Looking at Anthony, amazed he survived such a feat of a derailing train in an effort to get to the White Fang, he wasn't much older than she was at the time. To kill even children to accomplish his goals was nearly unthinkable. How much life had her father taken without her knowing it? "I never knew him to be ruthless." "Maybe he doesn't let anybody know what he does behind closed doors, Weiss," Yang proffered sagely, to which the heiress couldn't even acknowledge visibly. Turning to reach out and grasp Anthony's metal hand, she squeezed it tenderly with a comforting smile on her face. Nodding with affirmation she realized what she needed to say, thanks to what the cyborg man had told her. "Thank you for...opening up...to us all, Anthony. I know it must have not been easy for you to mingle with anybody after that kind of betrayal. I don't know how I could have handled having such a loss myself," She briefly thought as she reached up to rub her right bicep with a spare hand, closing her eyes to be knit tightly. Opening them again, she smiled lopsidedly. "But, if it does happen, I know you'll help support me won't ya?" At times like this, Anthony silently cursed himself for having a metallic right hand. Compared to the nerves of his regular left, the sensation of touch was unusual even after all the time he had spent with it. He could feel it when he moved it, he could feel it when he used it to grab things. But when it came to touching or being touched, it was always the equivalent of touching a dead limb. It was off-putting and creepy, though he'd never allow himself to express that out loud. It was impressive that Yang could comfortably grasp the cold prosthetic without flinching or discomfort. Still, he had the decency to pout a little and look away in slight embarrassment at the open sign of affection. He did direct his gaze back to Yang, although he kept his face turned away. He did turn his head to her when she spoke further, pursing his lips in order to stifle a chuckle. His left hand reached and slid over hers in an assuring grip of his own. It felt strangely small in his hand, almost as if it didn't belong to a woman that could tear someone's head off with one punch. "Yeah, you don't need to worry in that department. I'll be there for you." "Awww~!" Much to his chagrin, the MKBD girls let out contained and simultaneous noises of delight. Seth's snickering didn't help things. "The point being," Anthony casually shifted the subject back to Blake. He did keep a light grip on Yang's hand even as he continued to speak to the rest of them. "I've had to deal with my fair share of stressful situations back then, with that being one of them. Time after time, I've had to learn that I can only push myself so far before I start breaking down and getting in too far over my head. Blake, however, doesn't seem to realize or care that she's pushing her limits. Someone needs to hammer it into her head that she needs to slow down, give herself time to recuperate and get a clear head." He looked over at Yang, once again giving a small yet encouraging grin. "And considering you're her partner and sister-in-arms, I think you're the perfect lady for the job." Yang couldn't help but feel pleased at hearing Anthony's two bits of advice. It came from the heart and given the things he went through she was glad to have met the man at the end result. He's matured, grown into someone she could identify and work with. She felt her heart beat strongly with less of a dour feeling than before. This talk enlightened her about the man she was attached to and alleviated her worries what to say to Blake. Pulling Anthony into a hug that made her sister gush and Weiss simply smile, she released him after placing a small peck on the cheek, "Thanks, Iron Hand. I think I know the best way to talk our friendly feline into some sense," Standing up, she sauntered away for a few steps before turning her head to look over her shoulder, winking confidently with a smirk. "Be back later." As she departed, Weiss couldn't help but look at Ruby's innocent face with a pensive curiosity. "Doesn't it bother you that your sister makes lovey-dovey with him?" She inquired in a public manner as she eyed up Anthony and looked back to her. "Hmmm, nope!" "Not even the kiss?" "Nope!" "How innocent are you?" The heiress inquired with a deadpan expression. "What? Yang always kissed my cheek good night when we lived together," She blinked with a smile, causing an undue blush on the white haired teammate as she asked with her own inquisitive tone. "Why? Isn't that normal to do for people you like?" "Not in the same context," Weiss sighed as she rubbed her temples. "I can see why you two are related though..." "Thank you!" She exclaimed with a giggle that only made Weiss headdesk with a groan. Flashback ends. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter